Mumbai-based Pocket Aces to foray into China with WebTVAsia tie-up

Pocket Aces will make its content available on the Chinese video platform Youku Tudou. The partnership will also see WebTVAsia manage the firm's marketing and promotional activities in ChinaSupraja Srinivasan | ET Bureau | Updated: July 19, 2017, 10:48 IST

Digital entertainment company Pocket Aces is all set to test international waters and is looking to make its first stop in China.

The Mumbai-based company has inked a partnership with Asian digital media firm WebTVAsia to make its content available in the Chinese market on the Alibaba-owned video platform Youku Tudou - China's version of YouTube.

WebTVAsia is one of the three global partners for Youku Tudou and sources short-form content across the world for the host platform.

“We have identified Pocket Aces as the leading shortform content player in India. We will help them onboard their content and help with localisation, including sub-titling and dubbing into Mandarin,“ Desmond Ngai, VP, strategy & partnerships at WebTVAsia told ET.

The partnership will also see WebTVAsia manage marketing and promotional activities for Pocket Aces in China. Pocket Aces' three main content channels include Dice Media (premium long-form web series), FilterCopy (short form content) and Gobble (short-form food videos) and claims a weekly viewership of over 40 million across all properties.

The foray into China will see only the short form content including FilterCopy and Gobble being made available on Youku Tudou with dedicated sections for each. Currently about 70% of the company’s revenues come from the short form series.

The partnership is based on a 50-50 revenue share agreement and will eventually see the Sequoia Capital backed company expand operations to Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea and Indonesia as well. Pocket Aces is also in talks with global media companies in other countries for partnerships possibilities.

The three year old company claims to have grown 10 times in the last 2 quarters with a large part of the topline being driven by short form content. “In FY18 though, we see long form content emerge as the big part of the business,” Co-founder Ashwin Suresh told ET. Pocket Aces is planning 4 new releases in the long form content business and expects the format to grow to 50% of the revenues from the current 30%.